The Ragbirds, Big Dudee Roo, Fauxgrass, Peter Madcat Ruth, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon, Chuck Whiting and more will pump up downtown Hastings for the free celebration. See the full schedule.
Rootsy Headliners: The Ragbirds play the first-ever Hastings Roots Music Festival.
Music festivals in Michigan quite often include rolling pastures or dense woodlands occupied by hundreds of tents and campers.
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But a brand new roots music festival unfurling Saturday in downtown Hastings plans to showcase the splendors of a more urban environment, albeit a small-town one.
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The Hastings Roots Music Festival will make its debut in downtown Hastings with nine Michigan acts on three outdoor stages, including Peter Madcat Ruth & Michael Shimmin, Megan Dooley, Tony LaJoye, Magdalen Fossum, Nicholas James & the Bandwagon, Chuck Whiting, Basement Bluegrass, Big Dudee Roo and Fauxgrass, plus an evening finale featuring The Ragbirds inside Leason Sharpe Hall at 7 p.m.
“It’s really unheard of for people to be able to experience The Ragbirds as part of a totally free festival, so we are really thrilled to be able to bring that to Hastings,” said Tony LaJoye, chairman of the Hastings Roots Music Festival.
The free, one-day event is sponsored by the Thornapple Arts Council, an organization that exists to spark creativity, community and culture in Barry County through the arts. In fact, it was the success of Thornapple’s popular annual spring Jazz Festival, started in 2003, that inspired the development of the Roots Music Festival.
“The jazz festival has become an immensely successful event, and since then, there’s just been a lot of demand from the community to do more events like that in downtown Hastings,” said LaJoye. “We really want people to come down and experience downtown Hastings ’cause it’s a beautiful place.”
FREE WORKSHOPS AND POST-FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES, TOO
Music will commence at 11 a.m. with a performance by Grammy Award-winning harmonica player Peter Madcat Ruth and drummer Michael “Kid” Shimmin, of the folk and Americana-versed Michigan blues group, Madcat Midnight Blues Journey.
Bluegrass Power: Fauxgrass will perform and host a workshop. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Attendees will not only have the opportunity to watch and listen to an array of noteworthy Michigan acts, but get their hands on instruments themselves by way of two free workshops that are open to all ages and all experience levels: a ukulele workshop led by Peter Madcat Ruth and an improvisation workshop led by Grand Rapids’ progressive bluegrass outfit, Fauxgrass.
The ukulele workshop begins at 12:40 p.m., and will cover a range of techniques on the island instrument, while the improv workshop, starting at 4 p.m., will focus on the improvisational methods used in traditional American music.
Those interested in joining either workshop are asked to bring along their instruments if they wish to participate, but are also welcome to simply observe and enjoy the music.
Tony LaJoye (Photo/Kristine Carpenter)
Other festival amenities include a refreshment tent, complete with fire pit, hosted by Denton Moose Lodge at the Barry Community Enrichment Center.
The Hastings Roots Music Festival is strategically scheduled in conjunction with other area events and shares its date with the Barry-Roubaix Founders Fall Fondo Bike Color Tour, and two post-festival performances at local venues, with legendary bluesman Jimmie Stagger performing at Walldorf Brewpub & Bistro, and up-and-coming country artist Kevin Schaffer playing at County Seat.
For more information about the Hastings Roots Music Festival, call 269-945-2002 or visit thornapplearts.org.
